Redmond's Sebastian Virgen-Lopez (10) dribbles past a pair of Pendleton defenders to score during the first half at Redmond on Thursday.

REDMOND — The Intermountain Conference opener could not have gone better for the Redmond boys soccer team.

The Panthers scored seven goals against Pendleton Thursday night to start IMC play with a 7-0 shutout, their first win of the season.

“Everything up to this point has been testing and practicing for this game,” said Redmond coach Scott Lee. “We have been counting down practices, and this game has been our focus the whole preseason. To come out 7-0 was great.”

Thursday marked the first time since 2018 that Redmond has beaten a team besides Crook County. Junior goalkeeper Colin Pearson turned in a clean sheet after keeping the Buckaroos off the scoreboard.

After going scoreless in the first three games of the season, Redmond had a barrage of four goals late in the first half and added three more in the second half. Sophomore Ismael Landeta Sanchez had one, junior Sebastian Virgen-Lopez scored twice (once on a penalty kick), and senior Nicolas Alti found the back of the net four times in the win.

“I haven’t had a game like that in a long time,” Alti said. “I felt like I could have had six, but I missed two other goals. Our passing was perfect today. I hope we can keep it up in our next games.”

The hope for the Redmond squad is that this match is a building block for the rest of the season. And while the Panthers have just one win and have yet to have a winning season under Lee, who took over in 2018, this fall Redmond believes it will be much improved.

“When I first got here there was a lot of slacking around,” Virgen-Lopez said. “Over the years I feel like we have gotten more mature and focused, and you can see in practice there is a lot more intensity and it shows on the field.”

Since the school year started, at least once a week the team has gathered in Lee’s classroom during lunch to watch some film of their matches and practices.

“We are able to see the things we did well and the things we didn’t do well,” Alti said. “We see problems that we have and then try and solve them during practice.”

There is also a change in philosophy from last spring to this fall. Last spring the team’s motto during the shortened season was all about being resilient and continuing to show up to practice during the uncertainty caused by the pandemic. This season, however, is about becoming more disciplined.

Players are showing up earlier to practice, Lee said, and there are more positive forms of communication both on the practice and game field, which has created a more enjoyable atmosphere for the team.

Thursday’s shutout victory, Lee said, should only help keep that momentum going and possibly turn into a winning season.

“This win gets them coming together and knowing that they can do this,” Lee said. “It is really a confidence-builder.”